38. Back Home in Chicago
38 BACK HOME IN CHICAGO
Cal
Chloe texted Daphne was safe and accounted for. I breathed relief for the first time in months. She was safe. They found her where I suspected they would. After a bit of hustling, they drove her to Traverse City for the night. She refused to return directly, and Chloe would not drive eight more hours. Meanwhile, I made some progress with the police union. In a bizarre twist of fate, the thought of my girlfriend being the victim of revenge porn made female union organizers more sympathetic.
“Knock, knock!” Jo poked her head in. “How are you?”
“Still responding to emails,” I sighed. “You?”
“If you did less on your own?—”
“I’m a control freak, Jo. You know that is me in a nutshell.”
She smiled and sat on the couch. “Will you actually sleep at home tonight?”
“No clue,” I said.
“You should. Do yourself a favor. Your gym is not a replacement for your shower. Nor is this couch a real bed.”
“I don’t know how to relax. Chloe found Daphne. They made it to Traverse City.”
“Good,” Jo said. “So, what now?”
Her face revealed the thing she didn’t want to say—the thing she’d avoided mentioning for fear of setting me off.
“I hope to speak with her when she returns. Jo, she was violated by this guy.”
“I don’t doubt that. I feel awful about it. I know David was a good man. I know he cared a lot about those kids and you do, too. However, right now, you’re about to take the stage as a potential political superstar. We’re talking you could go all the way up. When you think about standing there—yourself—someday, do you see yourself standing next to a woman who has been seen half naked… doing… that?”
“I could only be so lucky,” I said. “What happened to her happens to too many people.”
“Well, if you don’t prevent it?—”
“Jo, I don’t need you to answer this, but think about it. Have you ever sent a nude? And if so, what if it ended up in the wrong hands? Should your husband write you off over it?”
“No. But I also never have.”
“Never?” I asked in disbelief.
“I know you have. It’s in your oppo,” she sighed. “And it was one of our threat surface concerns. But, unlike your girl, Kristy is reliably private and not vindictive.”
“I don’t believe in holding this against Daphne.”
“Look, I don’t want to blame her for this. He violated her, but that’s not what the public thinks. Good luck making it all the way to the top. What about that senate run you always talk about, Cal? What about that?”
“If it never happens, it never happens. But it also is unlikely to happen while I’m unattached. I’m not planning to spend the rest of my life celibate and lonely.”
“There are women who?—”
“They aren’t Daphne.” I was firm. “I love her. She’s unlike anyone else I’ve ever known. She’s addictive and comforting and literally everything I need.”
Jo’s mouth dropped, not expecting me to lay it out there more than I did.
“I’m sorry… I got emotional.”
“You need to choose,” Jo sighed. “Because you’re right, you may be able to have both, but you also for sure put yourself at a disadvantage if you go there.”
“I will keep it quiet,” I said. “I will keep it low-profile for now.”
“It’s best for both of you to do that.” Jo patted the sofa arm and stood. “Go home. Sleep. Think about what you want.”
She left. My heart ached. Sparing myself by putting Daphne back in the closet felt ultimately wrong. At the same time, I entered politics to do good. I wanted to go above and beyond my current station. Loving Daphne might put that at risk—even if not of it was her fault.
* * *
Daphne
After 10 hours driving—mostly in road construction and subsequent traffic on I-94—we reached home. Mum nearly took me out at the knees, giving an unexpected hug and kiss. When she stepped back, I spotted Davey, Derrick, and Dora waiting to check on me. My older brother’s face showed concern, not anger.
“I am okay. I mean, physically,” I clarified. “I am sorry for frightening any of you, but I needed to feel safe. I needed to disappear for a bit. I still do. I’d appreciate it if no one said I’d returned.”
“While I am glad that is the truth—that you’re well,” Davey said, “I cannot grant you that. Daphne, you’re Delphine Retail Holdings’s new president. The entire office needs you to show up.”
“I think it’s unwise?—”
“Daphne Eugenia Delphine!” Mum was sharp. “Your father would want you to step up, not back down.”
“Daddy would have been mortified?—”
“I’d like to think his ghost will haunt Chandler all his life!” Dora said.
I stared in disbelief, surprised such harshness could exit her sweet mouth.
“I mean… if I believed in ghosts… which I don’t. But fuck him!”
Derrick raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you need a hard reset, kiddo.”
He pretended to look for a button on her back.
“Don’t patronize me!” Dora slapped his hand, then stood stock still and obedient, realizing she’d sworn and Mum loathed women swearing.
“There, there. We’ll work on your feminine rage over time, Dora Elizabeth,” Lanie joked.
“Daddy would stand by you—as he always did,” Mum said. “Because you all were the most precious parts of his life. He had no patience for others, but he had endless love and compassion for you kids. And when someone messed about like this, he wanted to have them strung up. What Chandler did was unforgivable. I know you are mortified, my love.”
Mum took my face in her hands and looked into my eyes lovingly, “You, my love, will thrive. This will be a blip. He did this—not you. He betrayed and hurt you. All you did was play the role of a loving wife and he betrayed your trust. But now… now we all need you to focus on the good. I believe in you—Davey does, too.”
Tears rolled as I looked at my big brother.
“Daphne, there is not a part of me which wishes for you to resign. We may need to do some damage control and to explain things to the board, but… I intend to keep you on as president.”
“Why?”
“Because we should keep the business open. That’s what we owe Dad,” Davey insisted. “And you’re the person to do it, Daphne. You are the one we need right now—regardless of what an angry politician tells us.”
I sighed, annoyed.
“Besides, you’re about to get your life back,” Lanie said. “And in doing so, you’re going to stick it to the bastard. Do you want him to own your own narrative, woman?”
I shook my head.
“Do the right thing. Stick with it,” Davey said. “I will be behind you one hundred percent, but I need you to show up for work on Monday.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I can do that. I know you’re right.”
It hurt. Everything felt wrong, but looking at their faces, I couldn’t say no. The family needed me—and I needed them.
“I’m taking my life back,” I said. “And all of you are coming with me.”